NeoQuest II Boss Strategy Guide

NeoQuest II guide by edfdavis.

Organization

1. Purpose of This Guide
2. General Observations and Answers to Common Questions
3. Getting through the Game - FAST!!! (How do I beat the game in 10 hours???)
4. Character Skills and Recommendations
5. Boss Strategies
6. Frequently Asked Questions

Purpose of This Guide

This guide provides help specifically on fighting the bosses and recommendations for allocating your skill points. I will not provide a walkthrough in terms of telling you how to move from one dungeon level to another; the maps on IDNQ are excellent and you should be able to pinpoint your position without too much difficulty if you believe you are lost.

There are many different strategies offered by people on the Neoquest boards; my strategies are not the only correct ones and certainly are not the ones you absolutely must follow to get through the game. However, these ideas have made the game much easier for me; and so I hope that in following them, you will find that they make the game easier for you as well. I wish you the best of luck in completing the game!

Anybody with further questions can feel free to e-mail me at edfdavis@juno.com. Address me as Eddie, please! This is not a walkthrough, I know, but I do answer walkthrough questions. I would appreciate feedback on whether this guide was helpful or not. Thanks!

I don't mind the sharing of this guide, but I would ask that you keep my name as the author of this guide. If there are any mistakes in it, please e-mail me. Thanks again!

Further text in blue are additions to this guide by Ashlyn and Lloyd, username Aphromeda, after we used this guide and completed the NQ2 insane race. We hope you find this useful.

General Observations and Answers to Common Questions

I do not believe there is any one "perfect" combination of skills for each character. You could probably make it through the game on any combination; the difficulty level would just change. Some of my general observations are:

• People have raised issues on whether it is a glitch that you would win weapons/armor from normal monsters. I think this is more of an occasional event that happens, and I have found that this tends to happen whenever I am fighting monsters for a long time in the same general area. The weapons/armor I tend to get have been items I cannot purchase, so if you get them by chance, consider it a nice surprise.
• I have seen a lot of questions on what level to be on when fighting enemies. Generally, if you are healing more often than attacking, they are too strong for you. Don't know if you are ready for a boss? Try it. I have not encountered a boss where I was unsuccessful in withdrawing from a fight. Will the boss be easier if you level up around the boss? Absolutely. Is there any advantage to leveling up earlier on in the game? I would say yes. It's a "sooner or later" philosophy the game employs, and later on it will force you to gain levels in order to continue advancing in the game - otherwise the monsters will tear you to pieces.
• Potions can be expensive to purchase and you will go through them relatively quickly until you get Velm. Prior to moving from one area to another, I recommend that you purchase the maximum number of potions (20) for each potion level. You can't carry more than 20 of each potion, but you can carry 20 potions at each potion level. You have potion levels ranging from 15 HP - 170 HP, and if you walked into Terask II carrying all these potions, rather than simply 20 Jhudora's Lifeforce potions, you would have significantly more healing power. Granted, Velm will be the primary healer, but it is comforting to have the added healing power should you need it.
• Make sure you have at least 1 resurrection potion, preferably more, throughout the game. Rest at inns so that if you die, you go back to the last inn you visited and save time moving through the game.
  • You'll probably need 2-3 potions about some time in Chapter 1 or 2 after you get Mipsy, because she starts out with really low hp and is really vulnerable to death, especially when dealing with 2-4 enemies at once.

Getting through the Game - FAST!!! (How do I beat the game in 10 hours???)

• I skipped fighting The Miner Foreman, Meuka, and Hubrid Nox.
• It's better to overtrain at the conclusion of stages rather than to start a new stage undertrained. You can get through the battles faster on weaker enemies from the stage you're almost done with and won't run the risk of being killed by stronger enemies in the next stage.
• You should be at level 20 when you start Act 2, 30 when you start Act 3, 40 when you start Act 4, and 50 when you start Act 5.
• Build up character stunning skills. The less an enemy can attack you, the quicker you will be able to dispatch an enemy.
• It can be intimidating fighting enemies with a high HP, especially if they come in packs of 4. Focus on beating one enemy at a time rather than spreading out your attacks; this will allow you to play 4-on-4, then 4-on-3, then 4-on-2...you get the idea. You almost must do this when fighting the Four Faeries.
• Do everything you can to keep your characters alive - this means not letting any party members fall. The only way to bring them back is 1) they reach a new level, which you can't always count on, 2) resting at an Inn, 3) using resurrection potions. I usually will gamble if I know that after a battle a character will be gaining a level, so I might not use a potion on them. It costs time to go to an Inn (and money, usually) and resurrection potions are extremely expensive. If you are able to keep all party members alive, you should not be spending money on resurrection potions (though it's nice to have 4 - 6 just for emergencies) and can therefore spend money on weapons/armor. This will prevent you from having to stay in an area to gain more money - and will save you time.
• Overtraining will allow you to turn your battles and boss fights into a slugfest - good because you won't be on the defensive and chances are that you can get a boss's HP down extremely low, forcing them to go on the defensive to stay alive.
• Always rest at an Inn when you have a chance, even if you don't think you need to. If for some reason you die, you don't want to have to start the entire stage over at a remote location.
• If you're significantly overtrained, your need for speed/slowing potions in winning fights goes down. When I beat the game in Normal, I was usually overtrained, tossed a single slowing potion, and then went all-out, even with Velm. He had to heal only occasionally, and all the boss fights, with the exception of Terask II, were easily won.

Character Skills And Recommendations

The potency, or strength, of skills, becomes maximized at very high levels (13 - 15). Since there are 60 levels, you have 59 skill points available for each character. You also have the opportunity to specialize in 4 skill areas. I would definitely recommend this strategy as opposed to splitting your skill points equally between all the options available for each character.

Rohane

• Critical Attacks - increases the probability of an extra-damaging hit. Direct Damage provides a more consistent attacking range, while a high Critical Attack skill will increase the probability of striking outside that range. With a fully maxed skill, expect Rohane to consistently have at least one critical attack each battle. Of all the party members, he will be able to hit for the most damage at the game's end - up to 150 - 170 damage.
• Damage Increase - improves the weapon's attack power. Higher damage = less battle rounds = less chances for enemy to kill you.
  • Note: If you are not on Insane, (where health of enemies are horribly high) it might be better to use Critical Attacks before Damage increase as you DO get Damage Increase when your party members level-up or when they change weapons.
• Combat Focus - Raises your defensive ability so you don't take as much damage when enemies hit Rohane. He's already pretty strong to begin with, has a high starting HP, and you need to make him as offensive as possible. Once you have Velm able to group heal, Rohane will pretty much be indestructible. Spend your skill points elsewhere.
• Stunning Strikes - If an enemy can't hit you, it can't kill you! Of course, if you can't hit back very hard when the enemy is stunned, it might still be a long battle. Upgrade your direct damage/critical hit skills first to get the full potential of this skill.
• Battle Taunt - The enemies will focus their attacks on Rohane rather than the other party members. Again, this is more of a defensive skill to protect the rest of your party.
  • I did a little of this skill towards the end of the game, and used it while fighting Terask (about 6-7, inclusive of the addition from the weapon used), so he would attack Rohane most of he time, as Rohane has the most hp, and Velm would constantly heal Rohane or have Rohane heal with potions to keep the other party members (especially Mipsy) alive. I wouldn't recommend this skill in the beginning though, as you wouldn't have much use for it till the last/last few bosses.
• Innate Magic Resistance - Offense over Defense. Especially with Velm at your side. Need I say more?
• Innate Melee Haste - Move fast = kill quicker.

Suggestions: 1 - 15: Damage Increase; 16 - 30: Critical Attacks; 31 - 45: Stunning Strikes/Innate Melee Haste; 46 - 59: Innate Melee Haste/Stunning Strikes.

Mipsy

• Direct Damage - supersedes Group Damage at very high levels (beyond 11 I believe) and at 15, Obliterate will damage a single target for up to 100 HP. One-shot deal, tends to miss about 1/3 of the time, especially on bosses. Tends to be partially dependent on the weapon as well; maxing it out early in the game, I was only able to hit for up to 75 HP damage. It was only late in Terror Mountain that I finally broke the 100 HP barrier. While nice seeing 100 HP damage, Rohane and Talinia can both hit for much higher.
• Group Direct Damage - Astral Maelstrom will hit all enemies for up to 64 HP damage, and is pretty consistent. In a single turn, a four-enemy party can be damaged for up to 256 HP, while a shot of Obliterate will only hit for 100 HP max.
  • The main problem with Obliterate is that it can often miss. More annoying is the fact that it will miss even more often against the bosses. You are virtually guaranteed at least some damage to at least one enemy with Group Direct Damage, especially at the high levels. In most cases, you are able to hit for the maximum your skill level is at for all enemies. Against a four-party opponent, if you had Astral Maelstrom, you have the potential of hitting for a combined 256 HP damage, while Obliterate would only do 100 HP (assuming it hit).
• Group Haste - Avoids the use of potions; I don't know how it increments as you go up in the skill levels; but I would think that it should be quite nice. I have not upgraded this skill in any of the times I played through the game, but would consider maxing Group Haste since the end-stage enemies tend to slow down the entire party and you can quickly burn speed potions trying to counter the slowing effects.
  • When you have this skill maxed out, it hastens each party member by 38 points. Rather than having each member use potions and wasting 4 turns, having Mipsy cast this saves you turns you can use more effectively.
• Slowing - Slows an enemy party down. It's a good skill and replaces the need to have slowing potions. However, you need to make sure Mipsy has some damaging offense, like Direct Damage or Group Direct Damage, as well. Having her simply casting Slowing every round is going to make for some pretty long and boring battles.
• Damage Shields - Enemies attacking the party will take damage even if they damage the party member. I have not used this because again this is more of a defensive skill. Granted, the enemies will physically hit you, but late in the game, they will tend to use magical attacks, thus resulting in their not being affected by the damage shields.
• Innate Melee Defense - Mipsy is weak to begin with. Since she is a key offensive punch, you need to keep her alive as much as possible. Max it out.
  • I only started using this skill when I was in the Insane difficulty, and I must say I'm satisfied with what it does. Mipsy significantly dies less, and instead of wasting a turn using potions you can use her to do some damage.
• Innate Casting Haste - The faster you hurt enemies, the quicker they die. Need I say more?

Suggestions: 1 - 15: Group Direct Damage; 16 - 30: Innate Casting Haste; 31 - 45: Innate Melee Defense; 46 - 59: Group Haste.

Talinia

• Increased Bow Damage - Excellent skill to spend points in; will enhance the damage your weapon produces. An absolute necessity in making Talinia a real offensive threat to the enemy.
  • At the start of the game, Talinia does bad damage, (usually 10-30) and this is one skill you need to have for her to do some significant damage.
• Shockwave - Even more effective than Rohane's stunning strikes (some bosses are immune to Rohane's stun but are still vulnerable to Talinia's Shockwave). Stuns the entire party, not just a single monster like Rohane's attack. Works fairly often too. A good skill to have.
• Slowing Strikes - Use speed potions on your party or slowing potions on the enemy - you get the slowing effect either way. I never really see much of a difference with 1 - 2% slowing anyways. Also, you'll tend to win items that will give you slowing enhancements.
• Multiple Targets - Multiple Attacks won't be terribly effective if your bow damage isn't at a high level or unless you have a strong weapon. When you get Talinia, you need to be thinking offense. So, upgrade Direct Damage first, then Multiple Attacks. If you prefer, upgrade Shockwave after you have the Direct Damage maxed out - being able to stun an entire enemy party makes for much easier victories.
  • At the higher levels, this skill with Increased Bow damage can be more deadly than Mipsy's Astral Maelstrom. This is one skill I would recommend, after Bow damage.
• Ranged Attacks - Stuns the enemy when they attack her, I believe. Depends on the enemy preferentially attacking her. Tip the odds more in your favor and spend some points on more offensively based skills.
• Innate Magic Resistance - For some reason, enemies seem to like picking on Talinia. At least they did when I played through the game five times. Hence - Innate Magic Resistance is a very good skill to have. When to get it? Again, my preference, as with Mipsy, is to go offensive before defensive. Downside? You have to go through an entire act's worth before you get Velm - an excellent group healer who allows the rest of the party to survive no matter how defensively porous they are.
• Innate Melee Haste - Speed yourself up and kill them first.

Suggestions: 1 - 15: Increased Bow Damage (Direct Damage); 16 - 30: Multiple Targets/Shockwave; 31 - 45: Multiple Targets/Shockwave; 46 - 59: Innate Melee Haste.

Suggestions: 1 - 15: Increased Bow Damage; 16 - 30: Multiple Targets; 31-45: Innate Melee Haste; 46-59: Shockwave.

I find Melee Haste more useful than Shockwave in the earlier stages as with haste, you get more turns anyways, but shockwave only slows the enemy a little, and eventually you may get the same amount of turns still anyways.

Velm

• Healing - I never upgraded this skill. Two rounds of group healing outweigh a higher individual healing.
• Group Healing - As soon as you get Velm, instantly max out this skill to the top level, Panacea. Letting Velm be your primary defender and healer allows your other three characters to stay on the offensive. Also, you will find that your healing potion usage drops way down if you use Velm's Group Healing in every battle. I also recommend deliberately getting into a fight before a boss so you can have the opportunity to restore everyone to full health prior to the big fight.
• Celestial Hammer - The only true offensive punch Velm has, I recommend upgrading it after you have maxed out Group Healing. Usually an enemy will take either the damage or stun provided by the Celestial Hammer, if not both. Even though bosses tend to be resistant to it, having this skill upgraded gives you a third stunning option behind Rohane's Stunning Strikes and Talinia's Shockwave.
  • In my opinion, you either have this skill somewhere early in the game, or not have it at all. Not that 45 is a lot of damage, much of it usually misses in the later parts of the game, and most enemies can resist/are immune to stunning at the later parts of the game, where this skill is virtually useless. Though if you want Velm to have some offensive ability, this is the only skill to do it, as his melee damage is poor. Otherwise, Velm should stick with group healing and protection.
• Mesmerization - More of a defensive skill. As soon as you strike an enemy who is mesmerized, they go off it. The only time I can think when it would be useful is against the Four Faeries in the Haunted Woods. Stunning attacks by Rohane and Talinia are better and allow you to score some damage at the game time. I would not put any points into this skill, but then again, I like offensively-minded parties.
  • I did this skill when I was playing in evil mode, and I must say you wouldn't have much use for it. You'd usually use it when only fighting 4 enemies at one time, but if Talinia or Mipsy uses some Multiple Damage, the mesmerized enemy would be un-mesmerized. This would make void 2 of the best skills. Also, Velm would probably be busier healing than hypnosis.
• Group Shielding - It can be difficult to tell how effective this is, even when Velm invokes it. You won't be able to tell whether enemies are hitting harder or not, mainly because they can still nail you for Critical Attacks. Also, the impact of their regular attacks can depend on what armor you have at the time. Group Healing is a more tangible asset Velm has (you can see the effects immediately) and can offset any damage taken from the enemy. Since I am a very offense-minded player, I prefer to stay away from the defensive skills dependent on chance.
  • In my opinion, this is one skill which is underrated. When you have this skill activated, enemies can do approximately 20% less melee damage. If an enemy casts Astral Maelstrom while this skill is activated, from experience, up to 90% of the skill can miss! On the average, this is a good skill to have, especially when your party is undertrained, or when you are fighting a major boss.
• Innate Melee Defense - A good skill to have so that enemies won't hurt Velm as much when they strike. Even though Panacea can offset a low defense, it still helps to not have to rely on it every battle round so that you can get in some licks with the Celestial Hammer.
• Innate Casting Haste - Max this skill out after you have maxed out Group Healing. The faster Velm can heal your party, the less chance of an enemy getting in a lucky blow and killing off one party member.

Suggestions: 1 - 15: Group Healing; 16 - 30: Celestial Hammer; 31 - 45: Innate Melee Haste; 46 - 59: Innate Melee Defense.

My Suggestions/Reasons for Velm: 1 - 15: Group Healing; 16 - 30: Innate Casting Haste; 31-45: Group Shielding; 46-59: Innate Melee Defense.

Boss Strategies

There are four optional bosses in Neoquest II: The Miner Foreman, the Leximp, Meuka, and Hubrid Nox. If you don't feel like fighting any of these bosses, no penalty will be assessed during the game, although beating any boss would give you some good experience points and some useful items.

I present the level I beat the boss at and then the level I recommend to you (highlighted in red), based on Normal Difficulty. The reason I present the levels I beat the bosses at is because I wanted to show that it was possible to beat these bosses at slightly lower levels. However - you will probably be forced to train at the next stage. You may find while progressing through the game that my recommendations become conservative, especially at the very end - this is because it really, really, really sucks to lose this far into the game - even if you can start over at the last resting spot. As a general rule, add on a level to the Recommended Level if fighting a boss on Evil, two levels if fighting on Insane.

Is there any advantage in rushing through the game to take on bosses at lower levels? Only if you want bragging rights. The game will pretty much force you to level up to a certain threshold before you will have a reasonable chance of making it any further. Making it through the game undertrained the entire time will definitely test your RPG skills.

The flip question - is it worth it to overtrain? The game will be much easier if you do; it depends on how much patience you have in remaining at one place to level up. If you do overtrain significantly, you can pretty much turn the boss fights into slugfests, with everyone (including Velm) attacking and healing only occasionally as needed. The other benefit to fighting bosses while being overtrained is that you can probably do without having to accumulate damage potions (although I would recommend accumulating them as you can from late in the Lost Desert onwards to Faerieland for the final battle against Terask II). These are fun battles; you don't have to think much about battle strategy. Of course, this means that you will need to take the extra time to level up, which is not the most fun thing to do in the world.

I present an offensive and defensive strategy for each boss. Once you have Velm, the main strategy remains the same with him acting as healer and the other three - Rohane, Mipsy, and Talinia - attacking. This strategy may be varied slightly depending on the particular tendencies of each boss.

The Miner Foreman

Level Beat At: 5 on Normal, 5 on Insane; Recommended Level: 5 - 6.

You might need to burn some healing potions trying to beat him as he deals some good damage too. At level 6 he shouldn't be much of a threat. I beat him burning about 4 - 5 healing potions in insane.

Zombom

Level Beat At: 11 on Normal, 12 on Insane (11 on Normal, 14 on Insane); Recommended Level: 12

Offense: Attacking will tend to damage Zombom more often, though Blast Potions can potentially hit for more than Rohane's attacking range. Forget the Flare Potions - they don't hit for as much as the Blast Potions, and Rohane can usually attack for the damage range provided by Flare Potions.

Defense: Come with as many Healing Flasks/Potions as you can. Unfortunately, you can't buy them yet, so you have to win them from the enemies you fight along the way to Zombom. Have at least 3 Healing Potions; Zombom's Decimate will nail you fairly consistently for 31 HP.

Sand Grundo

Level Beat At: 11 on Normal, 15 on Insane; Recommended Level: 13.

Offense: Rohane should attack, Mipsy should cast direct/group damage. You should have at least one of the direct/group damage at a fairly high level. This is definitely a kill or be killed battle, the longer it takes, the greater the chances of your party dying. Mipsy will be your main offensive punch.

Defense: Use healing potions as necessary and be conservative. The sand grundo can hit pretty hard. Remember you still have two levels to go through after you beat it, and then a tough forest, before you make it to the next town. Rest at Lakeside prior to fighting him in case you do get killed, so you don't end up having to restart the game at your house.

If you beat Zombom easy, this shouldn't be a tough battle. Getting to him should have gained you 1-2 levels since Zombom, and should be enough to deal with him. One of the easier bosses in this chapter.

Ramtor (Meridell Castle)

Level Beat At: 18 on Normal, 19 on Insane (17 on Normal, 19 on Evil, 20 on Insane); Recommended Level: 19.

Offense: Good news: The amount of HP he has here will be the same as he has later in his tower, thankfully. Bad news: He heals himself while going there. You'll only be taking off about 1/3 to 1/2 of his HP before he takes off. This shouldn't be a tough battle; again think offense. Zap him with some Group Damage/Direct Damage shots and attack with Rohane, and he should fall quickly.

Defense: You don't need to be too terribly conservative here; Guard Thyet will heal your party after the battle. Also, you'll want to conserve your potions for the longer trek through Ramtor's tower and fighting Ramtor for real.

Again, if you beat Zombom/Sand Grundo easy, this should be easy. Don't let your guard down, however, spend time training to somewhere around the recommended level.

Ramtor (Ramtor's Tower)

Level Beat At: 19 on Normal, 21 on Insane (Aphromeda: 18 on Normal, 20 on Evil, 20 on Insane); Recommended Level: 20 - 21.

Offense: Use a slowing potion on Ramtor (remember that you'll probably need about 3 - 4 slowing potions before one of them will work) and the battle should be fairly easy. Mipsy should attack with her strongest damaging spell (Astral Maelstrom or Obliterate will work well) and Rohane should attack normally. Damage potions can work well, but I tend to shy away from them because they tend to be resisted a lot throughout the entire game and are streaky - either they work really well for several turns, or they don't work at all.

Defense: You can be more conservative with your potions here. Remember, though, that after the battle, you still have another mini-boss to fight before you can replenish your potion supply. So, come prepared!

This battle isn't too different or difficult from the previous battle in my opinion. Just keep your hp high and attack as normal, you shouldn't have a problem.

Boss #6: Leximp

Level Beat At: 19 on Normal, 21 on Insane; Recommended Level: 22.

Offense: The Leximp is all about hitting hard and the most annoying thing is that he tends to resist magic. Slowing it helps, have Rohane attack and Mipsy cast (eventually, you'll get a few shots to go through). Fortunately, it doesn't have a terribly high HP. Keep the game on Normal here so that you don't fight many enemies before reaching the Leximp; you won't be able to replenish your potions until after fighting it.

Defense: Since it hits pretty hard, be very conservative with your healing. If one party member falls, you're as good as dead, since it's pretty unlikely a single party member can make it back to Chia Oscuro alive. On the other hand, if you do die, you'll land back there by default, so the only bad thing is that you lose half your gold. If you train near Chia Oscuro, you can build up your levels and rest at the inn, but do conserve your potions for the fight against the Leximp.

The first battle in Chapter 2, it seems, is a hard one. When I fought him in Normal mode, I lost twice. On Evil and Insane it seemed pretty easy, and there can be only one reason for this: Training. Make sure you get to a high enough level before you fight him, and once you sense you may be losing, don't hesitate to flee and continue training.

Also: If you are on a race you can skip Leximp and Chia Oscuro and go right into the caves. This isn't really compulsory.

Kolvars

Level Beat At: 21 on Normal, 24 on Insane; Recommended Level: 25.

Offense: It's actually more difficult making it to Kolvars than fighting it, in my opinion. Slow it down, have Talinia attack (hopefully her Bow Damage is maxed out) and Rohane attack. Mipsy should cast spells as usual.

Defense: Kolvars is more about speeding himself up and tends to miss party members when he attacks, so you shouldn't have too much of a healing problem. More importantly, Happy Valley is beyond Kolvars, containing much-needed weapons, items, and another rest spot should you get killed after Happy Valley.

Scuzzy

Level Beat At: 26 on Normal, 31 on Insane (25 on Normal, 28 on Insane); Recommended Level: 30

Offense: Prior to fighting Scuzzy I leveled up a bit between Happy Valley and the Adventurers' Camp. Believe me, if you can't handle the monsters in this stage, the enemies in the Lost Caves will be snacking on you. The good news is that if you can make it to Scuzzy, you can probably beat him without too much trouble. Slow him first, then attack normally.

Defense: Pay attention to Mipsy in particular, Scuzzy can hit Mipsy for 50+ HP so she can be killed very easily. As a fairly significant punch to the enemy, you definitely do not want to see Mipsy go down. I also recommend having at least two resurrection potions from this point on throughout the game. There's always the off chance that one party member will be killed, and making it back to a town to rest at an inn and purchase more resurrection potions is extremely frustrating.

Only one opinion here: If you can get to him, you can beat him. If you can beat the dervishes coming 3-4 at a time before you get to Scuzzy, he's no big deal, really.

Siliclast

Level Beat At: 30 on Normal, 32 on Insane Recommended Level: 32.

Offense: The good news is that the game probably won't let you meet Siliclast prior to Level 30. The enemies are just too strong for you. Even if you leveled up in Terror Mountain, chances are you'll need to do a little bit more prior to Siliclast. The desert area near Sakhmet/Sakhmet Palace (where you start in the Lost Desert) is great. Resting at an inn will be expensive though, so try to rely on potions and avoid getting party members killed.

Note: Actually, I rested rather then use potions. Training should earn you enough money, and on the long run, resting is cheaper. If I remember correctly, it costs 350G.

As far as Siliclast in particular, he's pretty tough, actually. However, I tend to be aggressive, so I might reach bosses slightly trained or undertrained. He's resistant to magic and hits hard. Try slowing him down and speeding up the party so you are "doubly fast". Level up to 34 or 35, and he should be a cinch. This is where you want to be able to 1) hit hard, so have Rohane's Damage Increase/Critical Hits maxed, and Talinia's Direct Damage maxed, and 2) stun - have a few points allocated to Talinia's shockwave.

Defense: Heal conservatively and often! Don't get in a slugging match with Siliclast unless you're overtrained, you'll lose.

Gebarn II

Level Beat At: 32 on Normal, 33 on Insane; Recommended Level: 34.

Offense: Go on Normal rather than Hunting throughout his dungeon so you can have all your potions available. Slow him down and speed up the party as usual. Stunning is a useful skill to have.

Defense: Heal as necessary. At the risk of giving him a chance to heal himself, be conservative and keep your party HP as high as possible. He casts Contagion, which hits the entire group for 50+, so this battle might take a while as you may spend a lot of the battle healing. Don't be surprised if for each round you have only one party member attacking.

The Revenant

Level Beat At: 32 on Normal, 36 on Insane; Recommended Level: 35.

Offense: Be very happy at fighting the easiest boss you'll fight in the Lost Desert. His companions, the possessed skeletons, can be annoying, so you might want to consider killing them off first. However, if you kill just the Revenant, the skeletons die automatically as well. This will be a very easy battle because 1) the dungeon isn't too large, and 2) you have Velm in your party. Using Velm, you can make sure your party is at full health prior to facing any and all bosses for the rest of the game. Let Velm use Celestial Hammer when he isn't group healing. Using slowing potions on the enemy will make this battle a piece of cake.

Defense: Let Velm group heal (make sure that you have Group Healing maxed out to Panacea) and you should be able to get away with Rohane/Mipsy/Talinia doing nothing but attacking.

Coltzan's Ghost

Level Beat At: 34 on Normal, 37 on Insane; Recommended Level: 37.

Preparation: Rohane should attack; by this time you should have your Critical Hits/Damage Increase fully maxed out. The remaining points should go to either Melee Haste or Shockwave, consider these a bonus to your first two maxed-out skills. Mipsy should strike with her magic and should be maxed out on her Casting Haste. Remaining points should be dealt to either her defense or group speeding. Talinia should be maxed on Increased Bow Damage and Shockwave, and should have some points on Innate Melee Haste/Defense. Velm should have Celestial Hammer and Group healing maxed. Any remaining skill points need to have gone to Innate Casting Haste so he can heal more often.

Battle Strategy: For all future battles, this is the generic recipe: In the first two rounds, speed up the entire party and slow down the boss. Whenever the boss goes off the slowing potion, pause the attacks and use another round to slow down the boss. Don't be surprised if you have to use more than 4 slowing potions before the slowing works. It's a good idea to have two party members speed themselves up while the other two toss slowing potions; on the next round, do the reverse (assuming the slowing potion has not already worked)

Once the party is sped up, Rohane, Mipsy, and Talinia should attack. Velm should be the principal healer. Consider the Celestial Hammer as an offensive bonus - usually the enemy will take either the stun or the damage, if not both. Damage potions are nice to have as an additional offensive option if you have the extra cash around. Be prepared for the fact that they may not work very often.

As far as this battle is concerned, Coltzan's ghost can't cast any spells that are really harmful to you, so just keep your hp high enough and you shouldn't have a problem with him.

Anubits

Level Beat At: 36 on Normal, 39 on Insane; Recommended Level: 40.

Battle Strategy: Same as above for Coltzan's Ghost. A nice tactic would be to have Velm group heal on every round. You may not need the 90 HP provided by Panacea, but you won't be taking chances on the enemy landing a devastating blow that can kill off a party member/entire party. Also, the bosses tend to land group slowing, group damage, and their own party hasting. Velm's healing capabilities are, in fact, a key part of your offense, since your party members no longer have to spend a valuable turn using a healing potion. More importantly, your group is able to remain on the offensive, forcing the enemy to be defensive.

Same as Scuzzy: If you could get there, you can kill him. If you found his minions (before you got to him) easy, you shouldn't have a problem beating Anubits.

Meuka

Level Beat At: 38 on Normal, 40 on Insane; Recommended Level: 41.

Battle Strategy: Stay offensive with Velm group healing. This should be an easy battle. Meuka is actually the second of three bosses you can skip. If you skip Count Von Roo's castle, though, you will be undertrained for the next area. Just be prepared to do some serious leveling up, because Spider Grundo will probably kill of your party if you are at or under level 40.

Spider Grundo

Level Beat At: 41 on Normal, 45 on Insane; Recommended Level: 44.

Battle Strategy: Spider Grundo is one of the tougher bosses if you are aggressively moving through the game. I got killed on level 40 while playing on Normal, and had to withdraw on level 41 and 42 on Insane. Slowing Spider Grundo is an absolute necessity and you need to speed up your own party to keep the upper hand in the battle. Otherwise, you'll be playing on even terms and may have to withdraw. Do not be surprised if you have Spider Grundo down below 100 HP and then he heals himself consecutively back up to 400 or 500 HP. Consider this training practice for the remaining bosses. The battles only get tougher from here on out!

Make sure that you have some resurrection potions in case Spider Grundo kills off a party member and you need to withdraw. Unless you have Spider Grundo at a very low HP, it will take a miracle to defeat him with only three remaining party members. And once one party member falls, the next one will fall much more quickly.

People have reported to have killed this guy from as little as level 40, but there isn't really a point in that. You'll need training to deal with the later bosses anyway, so don't scrimp on training at this point.

The Four Faeries

Level Beat At: 42 on Normal, 46 on Insane; Recommended Level: 45.

Preparation: Make sure you have rested with Auger Faunt; if you die, it will be a really long journey back to the Faeries from Shadow Gulch, the starting town. Level up if necessary to get the best armor and weapons. You also want to have at least 20 slowing and 20 speeding-up potions because you fight not one boss, but four.

Battle Strategy: Both the Dark and Earth Faerie hit very hard, you need to spend the first few rounds slowing down the Faeries and speeding up your party. After that, focus on the Faeries from the weakest to the strongest. They do their most damage collectively, so focus on taking them out one at a time. The Water Faerie will heal, but you should be able to kill off the Fire Faerie more quickly than it can be healed. Velm will almost certainly be group healing every round. If you have chosen to spend some skills in Mesmerization, try mesmerizing the Earth and Dark Faeries.

Note: I did Memorization or Velm in Evil mode, and though I tries many times to mesmerize them, most of my attempts failed, so I would advise you to stick with healing for Velm : Also, IF you have both Astral Maelstrom and Obliterate for Mipsy, I would advise you to use Obliterate rather than AM, killing them one at a time is a better strategy.

Once the Fire Faerie is killed off, you probably will be at the point where you need to go through speeding up the party and slowing down the remaining three Faeries again. Concentrate on the Dark Faerie this time. Velm can be offensive with Celestial Hammer or a damage potion, but be very careful, all the Faeries need is one round of no group healing to kill off the entire party.

After the Dark Faerie is killed, focus on the Water Faerie. The Earth Faerie will still be hitting hard, so make sure it is slowed down. By this point, if Mipsy has been trained on both Direct Damage and Group Damage, it is a tossup on which to use, assuming the Direct Damage can hit for more than the Group damage. The Water Faerie can group heal, so any group damage will probably be offset considering you're trying to kill off the Faeries one at a time rather than as a group. I would suggest going with Direct Damage for Mipsy. Talinia's Shockwave definitely should be maximized by this point.

Once the Water Faerie is killed off, you probably have taken off some damage on the Earth Faerie. This evidently has no effect on its offensive power; it can easily take out any party member with two direct hits. This might be a battle where you lose a party member because it definitely is one of the longer battles you'll have, but it's better to take your chances and try to kill off the Earth Faerie if you're that far into the battle, because withdrawing and then trying to restart will be extremely difficult. You'll be out of a lot of potions and you may have to go through the Fun House again to reach Auger Faunt to resurrect dead party members. The solution is to simply make sure you have trained or overtrained.

Hubrid Nox

Level Beat At: 47 on Insane (skipped while playing on Normal); Recommended Level: 48.

Battle Strategy: Make sure you have trained to a fairly high level; the most annoying thing about Nox is that he self-heals on consecutive turns - a lot. I have gotten him to a very low HP level multiple times while fighting him and he still healed himself up enough to where I had to withdraw and then fight him again. I would recommend being at no lower than level 45 on Normal to have a semi-decent shot at defeating Nox. The good news is that fighting Nox is optional; he is the third and last optional boss in the game.

However...if you want to fight him...

Speed up the party and slow him down instantly. He tends to be resistant to magic and damage potions, so have Rohane and Talinia attacking. Rohane and Talinia's stunning abilities will prove very helpful. Velm should group heal constantly, but the stunning ability of Celestial Hammer can be a stopper to Nox healing. One of the problems is that he will haste himself and also tends to have consecutive turns (that is, when he has a turn, he usually has one immediately following, even if he is slowed). The way to counter this is to use attacks that consecutively stun - Rohane's hit stuns him, then Talinia's Shockwave stuns him, then Velm's Celestial Hammer adds a third stun. This may delay Nox from having a turn for up to nine or even twelve seconds - during which time you can focus on attacking rather than healing since Nox cannot attack. Another tactic I have used is that if I sense that Nox is about to go off the slowing potion, to use another round of slowing potions near the end of the period Nox has been stunned for. I use this tactic a lot for the remaining bosses as well.

I find him the hardest to beat in the game, even harder than Terask, no kidding. It's tiring enough to climb 9 levels to meet him, and if you flee you have to go 9 levels down to go to the last town. About the battle: He heals A LOT, yes a lot, and has a high magic resistance, so you have to keep your hp high. Also, unless you slow him down and hasten your party members, he's going to get a lot of multiple turns and before you know it, Mipsy might be dead.

Esophagor

Level Beat At: 48 on Normal, 49 on Insane; Recommended Level: 50.

Preparation: If you fought Nox, you probably do not need to do much leveling up. If you have not, though, you will need to do quite a bit in the Goo Bog (the Esophagor's home) because the Esophagor will consistently nail your party members with 150+ HP damage if you are undertrained. I tried fighting it at level 44 and it was pretty obvious I was overmatched.

The Esophagor has a lot of HP, but it's not as bad as it looks because it thankfully does not heal. Slow it down, speed up the party, and use lots of stunning attacks. Even if you are sufficiently healed, the Esophagor can still hit for a fairly decent amount, so don't forget Velm's ability to group heal. Mipsy should use Direct Damage if it hits for more than Group Damage (64, with Astral Maelstrom). This is an attrition battle - be patient and methodically wear down the Esophagor. I actually considered fighting Spider Grundo, the Four Faeries, and Hubrid Nox tougher challenges than the Esophagor.

The Fallen Angel

Level Beat At: 48 on Normal, 50 on Insane; Recommended Level: 51.

Battle Strategy: This is a warm-up battle for the Devilpuss, Faerie Thief, and Terask. It can heal itself, but does not have a terribly high HP to start off with. Use consecutive stunning strikes. Slowing it and speeding up the party will make the battle easier, but they are not necessary to winning this battle. Make sure you have rested at the Northern Watchtower so that if you die at any point between here and Cirrus (a very long way off) you will restart here.

Devilpuss

Level Beat At: 50 on Normal, 52 on Insane; Recommended Level: 52.

Battle Strategy: By the time you reach Devilpuss, you're already probably pretty exhausted from having had to make it through the Underclouds and Cumulonimbus. Devilpuss can easily make that tiredness permanent if you're not careful. It hits hard. It is an offensively minded enemy; be very happy it does not heal itself. It will strike anywhere between 90 - 140 HP (more if you're underleveled). Velm will probably spend most of the battle group healing. Rohane, Mipsy, and Talinia should attack in the normal manner. Make sure you have slowed it and sped up the party throughout the entire battle.

The Faerie Thief (I)

Level Beat At: 53 on Normal, 54 on Insane; Recommended Level: 53.

Preparation: Make absolutely sure you have rested at the inn at Cirrus. You do not want to have to make your way through Cumulonimubus again if you die. You need to have some resurrection potions in reserve before tackling the Faerie City. All the monsters here are extremely strong, and if you can believe it, become even stronger once you are in the Faerie Palace (the area after beating the Faerie Thief for the third time). Relentless and attacking in groups, the enemies you face in the Faerie City/Faerie Palace will focus themselves (making it more difficult to kill them) group heal, group haste, group damage, and group slow your entire party. The most effective strategy for handling these groups is to focus on killing the enemies one at a time.

Mipsy should use Astral Maelstrom and Talinia should fire Spray of Arrows to soften up the entire enemy party. Rohane can land the killing blow and Velm should be group healing often. You shouldn't need to use any speed/slowing potions when fighting the enemy groups; these potions should be reserved for the bosses.

Battle Strategy: The good thing about fighting the Faerie Thief the first time is that you can gauge how you will fare in the next two battles against her, since you only will have to take off about 1/3 to 1/2 of her HP before she takes off. If you are undertrained, it will be pretty easy to tell as the Faerie Thief will be damaging your party for 120+ HP.

Slow her, speed up the party, and then start attacking hard with Velm group healing. Even though you're only taking off a fraction of her HP, you don't want to get in a situation where she gets lucky and kills off one of your party members, turning what is supposed to be an easy battle into a very difficult one.

The Faerie Thief (II)

Level Beat At: 54 on Normal, 54 on Insane; Recommended Level: 54.

Battle Strategy: It's tough enough simply getting to the Faerie Thief for the first time. Get used to it; you have to do it twice more. The Faerie Thief's tactics don't change; use the same approach you used the first time you fought her. Don't worry about using up your potions; you can always go back to Cirrus to replenish. Make sure you have purchased all the weapons/armor offered at Cirrus; the only way to get any better arms from here on out is to win them from enemies/bosses.

The Faerie Thief (III)

Level Beat At: 55 on Normal, 55 on Insane; Recommended Level: 55.

Battle Strategy: By now, it actually is a little bit easier fighting her because you are probably at least one entire level up from when you first battled her. Use the same strategies as before - slowing her, hasting the party, Velm group healing, everyone else attacking - and you should win. Be absolutely sure you are maxed out on slowing/speed potions before you enter the Faerie Palace - the next time you will have the opportunity to purchase any more of them will be before facing Terask II. You get some interesting items from her - on Normal, I got a Kauvara's Robe, on Insane, a Darigan's Fire Cloak.

Pant Devil (Northwest Tower)

Level Beat At: 57 on Normal, 57 on Insane; Recommended Level: 56.

Battle Strategy: You fight two Pant Devils; as with Devilpuss and the Faerie Thief, the main challenge is simply getting to them. Fighting the Pant Devils is not too difficult; they tend to be more offensively minded so you need to just watch your HP. Fortunately, they do not self-heal. As with most of the battles following the Esophagor, this battle turns into one of attrition simply due to their high starting HP. Be careful about using too many slowing potions on the Pant Devil; you still have two more bosses to take on before you can replenish your speed/slowing potion supply. You can probably get away without using any speed or slowing potions; they just make the battle longer and slightly more difficult.

Pant Devil (Northeast Tower)

Level Beat At: 58 on Normal, 58 on Insane; Recommended Level: 57.

Battle Strategy: Follow the same strategy in battling against the first one. Don't forget to stop by Vitrini so she can give you the key to face Terask I.

Terask I

Level Beat At: 58 on Normal, 58 on Insane; Recommended Level: 58.

Battle Strategy: Slow him immediately and haste the entire party. Both Terask I and Terask II are smart enemies - they haste themselves and slow your party down. In other words, he follows very much the same strategy as you do. Terask I punches hard; consider yourself lucky if he misses. Velm needs to group heal. Stunning attacks are absolutely necessary; they are what will keep you in the battle.

Terask I is so strong that your normal attacks will be reduced - this is why you want to have Critical Attacks maxed out. Rohane will probably be your most consistent attacker; Mipsy should use Obliterate constantly and Talinia attack so that her Shockwave can stun.

Terask I is extremely resistant to the Celestial Hammer, so if Velm has any offensive opportunities (read: entire party at full health) try tossing a damage potion at him - at 170 HP, Hurricane potions can cause significant damage if they hit. Since Terask I hastes himself constantly, you need to make sure you have some type of slowing effect on him for the entire battle. Don't give the Coma potion a chance to wear off, toss another one immediately if you think it's about to go away.

IDNQ states that Terask I doesn't self-heal; I have in my notes that he did (could easily have been a typo meant for Terask II). Just be prepared if he does self-heal. Your strategy should not be affected if he does heal himself; take the opportunity to have Velm group heal since Terask I didn't bother attacking this round.

Boss #27: Terask II

Level Beat At: 60 on Normal, 60 on Insane; Recommended Level: 58 - 60.

Preparation: Talk to Lyra and rest before facing Terask II. Max out on Hurricane, Speed of Light, and Coma potions. Hopefully, you have a lot of extra speed/slowing potions from earlier parts of the game; 20 speed/slow potions will go very quickly on Terask II.

Battle Strategy: Think it was bad enough the first time? Now he has double the HP, and a few new tricks. Terask II self-heals multiple times, not just when he becomes weak - extremely frustrating, given that you are so close to the end of the game and he is arguably the toughest opponent you have faced. Terask II will heal at any point; expect at least two streaks of healing from him.

Slow him to counter his hasting spell and then speed up your party. At all times, make sure each member is sped up. One of the most annoying things about Terask II is that he will Mesmerize party members; if he does this to Velm and Velm dies, you're as good as dead because no amount of potions can make up for Velm's group healing ability.

You must have Panacea by this point; Obliterate will be a nice spell for Mipsy; though it doesn't work very often. Have her Innate Casting Haste maxed out so she gets as many chances as possible. In fact, all party members' hasting skills should be maxed out. Rohane's Critical Hits should be in the range of 130 - 150 HP, so hopefully you will get a lot of them in against Terask II. With a little luck, you will win. Good luck!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I lower the bridge/How do I find Zombom?
   Travel north of the city of White River to a cave in the mountains. Follow the puddles, traveling in a southeasterly direction, and you will find the exit. Emerging, you will find yourself on an island with a tower. Make your way up the four levels in the tower and you will face Zombom. After fighting him you will be transported back to the tower entrance. Make your way back through the caves to White River and the bridge will be automatically lowered.
2. How do I get to the lost city of Phorofor?
   You need to make your way to the northwest corner of the town of Lakeside. Speak with the hermit there and he will tell you a password. Outside the city, loop around the mountains to get to the desert and the temple of Phorofor (it's almost directly south of Lakeside). Talk to the ghost and it will disappear because you know the password. Travel all the way south, then east, to find the sand grundo.
3. How do I talk to the people in Chia Oscuro in Act II?
   You must first fight the Leximp. Travel east beyond the town you see immediately starting the act and you will find a cave slightly southeast. Inside the cave, travel southeast and you will find the Leximp. Once defeated, return to Chia Oscuro and you can buy potions/weapons/armor, as well as rest at an inn for free.
4. Where is Talinia?
   Travel east from Chia Oscuro. Far east, you will then turn north until you reach the Cave of Terror. Outside, travel east and you will find the Mountainside Inn. Inside you will find Talinia on the first floor, south of where you enter.
5. What's all this talk about a lost kid in Happy Valley?
   Travel south from the entrance of the town until you come to the ice rink. Inside one of the houses, you will be able to talk to a mother named Jualie. She will ask you to find her son. He can be found in the southwest corner of town. Go talk to him and he will go on home. After that, if you visit the shops and the inn you will get a discount on everything.
6. How should I tackle the Lost Desert?
   Upgrade your weapons and armor in Sakhmet City, the starting city of the Lost Desert. Travel northeast to find the Temple Of The Sky. After you beat the master of that dungeon, Siliclast, you will be transported back to the royal palace. From there, go north until you come to a temple surrounded by mountains. Make your way through the temple and defeat Gebarn II. After that, you return to the palace. However, if you make your way north again, you will see that some of the mountains are cleared, allowing you to make your way farther north.
7. Where is Velm?
   After you make your way north of Gebarn II's temple, you will encounter Waset Village. In one of the tents is Velm - a red techo. For upgrading his skills, see my recommendations above.
8. Where is the Librarian?
   Travel northwest along the mountains from Waset Village and then make your way southwest through an opening in the mountains. You will be able to then find the Palace of the Ancient Kings, where the missing librarian is held. In your path stands the Revenant.
9. What do I do after saving the Librarian?
   You must speak with the Librarian after you save her. She can be found in one of the tents of Waset Village. After she tells you a password, you can then make your way northeast from Waset Village again, this time continuing to move north instead of southwest towards the Palace of the Ancient Kings. In the middle of the desert will be the hermit, who will tell you how to retrieve the second part of the map. You can find it moving northeast from him until you reach the mountains again. Travel along the mountain horizon and you will find the second part of the map.
10. Where is the gemstone?
    Beat Coltzan's Ghost for the last piece of the map and then make your way north after exiting his temple. When you come upon two isolated rock formations in the desert, search around there (use the fully formed map as a reference) and you will find the gemstone. From there, make your way southwest to Waset Village, and then southwest again to find Anubits' dungeon.
11. How do I fight the Four Faeries/Hubrid Nox?
    See the above section in the bosses for my strategies to beat these two bosses. Remember that Nox is an optional boss.
12. Where can I buy potions in the Northern Watchtower in Faerieland?
    Go upstairs from where you enter the Northern Watchtower and you can buy potions. You need to stock up here because you won't be able to do so again until you are at Cirrus, the last village before Faerie City. The problem is that two bosses sit between the Northern Watchtower and Cirrus, both of which could deplete your potion supply, not to mention the many enemies that you will encounter.
13. If I have a choice between weapons/armor and potions, which should I pick?
    Weapons and armor should be your choice. It takes fewer fights to then rack up the money again to purchase potions.
14. Which staircase should I take to find Terask I?
    Take the southeast staircase (the one on the lower right). You will end up in another maze, and after navigating it, you will find yourself in a room with Terask I.
15. How do I find Terask II?
    Step on the orb after being Terask I and you will be transported to a familiar-looking hallway which was the entrance to the maze to find Terask I. Make your way back to Vitrini and speak with her. She will then tell you to take the opposite route you took to find Terask I - to go left this time, south of the maze you went through to find the Pant Devil in the Northwest Tower, and then southeast until you come to another door. You can then pass through this door with a key you won from Terask I. Make your way through these mazes and you will then be in a single-path area, with Lyra at the end. Rest there, stock up on potions, and then go north. You will then be able to travel southeast, and it will appear nobody is there. At the very end you will be able to see Queen Fyora, but you will be stopped by Terask II. Once you beat him, you win the game.

---

This Guide is currently rated . Rate the Guide:

It's Perfect!It's Good!It's OK.It's bad!.It's awful!

In-Depth Neoquest Guide © 2002-2006, 2009 Hunter. All Rights Reserved. Contact us; view credits.
NEOPETS, characters, logos, names and all related indicia are trademarks of Neopets, Inc., © 1999-2004.